Hot tubs have become more and more plentiful and have been added to existing home units as retrofit items themselves. Hot tubs are also frequently installed as options in new home construction as well. Their relaxing and therapeutic benefits are appreciated by a growing percentage of the population. They are being added along with the construction of exterior decks, sun porches, solariums and more. They can even be installed in their own separate housing units apart from one's main house structure.
In use, when a typical user leaves the hot tub, it is often desirable to wrap oneself as soon as is convenient, in a towel, bathrobe, garment or other material to be warmed. In colder climes, it is very desirable that the towel not be the same temperature as the air. However, many hot tubs, though not all, do not provide a mechanism for warming towels or other clothing material used to wrap around one's body. And even those hot tubs that do include such a facility may not include sufficient facilities for the desired number of towels or other garments. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide hot tubs with facilities and mechanisms for warming towels and other body coverings for use in conjunction with the use of the hot tub.
While one of the mechanisms for towel warming could be provided by an external electrical device, there are hazards associated with the use of electrical heating elements in conjunction with a human size container containing a potentially electrically conductive fluid. This is particularly true in the case of a towel heating mechanism that is provided in the form of a retrofitted device or kit, especially as opposed to a design that is already included by the manufacturer of the hot tub with the proper electrical connections and insulation in place as part of a “ground up” design. Furthermore, retrofittable towel warmers based on electrical resistance heating ignore the fact that there is already present a significant source of thermal energy, namely, the water in the hot tub itself.
Towel warmers per se are not new. They are often found provided in upscale hotels and resorts. Some hot tubs also already come equipped with towel warming mechanisms. For example, one such mechanism is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,175,970 issued to John Pinciaro on Jan. 23, 2001 and having a filing date of Sep. 13, 1999. Another such built-in design is shown in published U.S. Patent Application No. 2002/0129514 published on Sep. 19, 2002 and having been filed on Mar. 13, 2001. However, neither of these designs represents or describes a mechanism which is easily retrofitted to an already existing hot tub which has not already incorporated such a feature.
Accordingly, it is seen that there is a need for a towel warming mechanism that may be used in conjunction with a hot tub and, more particularly, in the form of a device or system that can be retrofitted to existing hot tubs in a convenient and easy fashion without the need for an electrical connection.